I am the Crown Prince of France

Chapter 205: Another Option

France.

Southeast of Provence.

A well-disciplined and well-equipped army marched into the port of Toulon. If you looked closely, you could see slight differences in the pristine white uniforms of these soldiers—some had the fleur-de-lis and dolphin symbols embroidered on their collars, the personal insignia of the French Prince, while others bore the emblem of the Paris Military Academy.

Yes, this was the "Prince's Guard Corps," preparing to set off for Tunisia. They had left Paris and headed south half a month ago.

At that time, Joseph had even skipped attending the ceremony where the Standards Committee was unveiling the new metric system to personally send off the troops. Although he regretted missing the event, the North African strategy was clearly the top priority at the moment. He personally delivered a pre-battle speech to the corps and escorted them for more than 20 kilometers, greatly boosting the soldiers' morale.

Outside the port of Toulon, a captain, noticing the soldiers growing weary under the hot sun, raised his voice and called out, "Where's the lead singer?"

"Here, sir! I'm here!" A short soldier carrying an accordion hurried over, saluted, and stood at attention.

The captain patted him on the shoulder and pointed to the front of the formation. "Lead them in a song."

"'Glory and Victory,' sir?"

"Yes, that one. It's my favorite too."

The lead singer rushed to the front of the formation, played a few high notes on his accordion to catch the soldiers' attention, signaled to the drummers, and then called out loudly:

"Sing with me—

"As the bugle sounds before dawn on the battlefield,

"Our ranks are orderly and strong.

"Determination and faith are written on our faces,

"Glory and victory are our beliefs.

"Our loyalty will never waver,

"With victory, we honor the King!

"Through blood and fire, we achieve the highest honor…"

The song was solemn and powerful, and soon the soldiers were energized as they sang along.

The tune was unmistakably the "Marseillaise," a song that would later become familiar to almost every Frenchman. Joseph had introduced it to his corps early, and it was a big hit with the soldiers. So much so that Joseph decided to make it their official marching song. Of course, the melody had been polished by Madame Galan, and the lyrics were rewritten by the great writer Beaumarchais, transforming it into a song of loyalty to the King and the pursuit of glory and honor on the battlefield.

At the docks, a large number of naval transport ships and escort warships were already moored, gently swaying with the waves. The navy had taken the 800,000 livres Joseph had "swindled" from the Americans, and for this operation against the pirates, they had only sent three warships, with most of the supplies provided by the Dutch, so it hadn't cost them much. Perhaps feeling a bit guilty about how little they had actually spent, the navy was very enthusiastic about supporting the North African campaign.

As more than 4,000 officers and soldiers, along with horses, cannons, and other military supplies, boarded the ships, at 2:30 p.m., the ten transport ships raised anchor and set sail directly for Tunisia.

Tunisia, central-southern region.

Choukri Valley, near the border between Kairouan and Sfax.

Under the shade of a sturdy olive tree, a Tunisian guardsman in an orange robe slapped a mosquito the size of a green pea that was sucking blood from his face. He wiped the blood from his palm and angrily scolded the soldier fanning him nearby, "Put more effort into it, you lazy fool!"

"Yes, sir," the soldier stammered, nodding as he fanned the mosquitoes more vigorously.

The officer peered down into the valley, but all he could see was green grass and trees, the scene seemingly peaceful. He turned to another officer with small eyes and asked, "How much longer do we have to stay in this cursed place? I'm about to be drained dry by these mosquitoes!"

The small-eyed officer was busy adjusting his boots and replied without looking up, "Be patient, Gedik. This order came directly from the Kasbah Palace to General Koja."

Gedik glanced at the forest they were hiding in and muttered, "What does the Bey know about what's really going on at the front?"

The small-eyed officer waved dismissively. "I heard it was Lady Hafsa's idea."

"Her?" Gedik snorted. "What business does a woman have meddling in military affairs? She has no sense of propriety!"

"Apparently, she was the first to discover the rebellion, and that's why she suggested the Bey order General Koja to prepare for an ambush here."

"How can they trust a woman's word?"

Gedik hadn't even finished speaking when two scouts came running towards them, frantically waving their arms. "Enemy sighted! Our outposts have been attacked! There are at least a thousand enemy troops!"

Gedik exchanged a shocked glance with his colleague and jumped to his feet, disbelief in his eyes. "How did that woman guess correctly?!"

Of course, Hafsa didn't guess. Joseph had arranged for someone to tell her that Eunice was likely to make a desperate attempt to ambush Choukri Valley. By leaking Eunice's movements to Hamud Ali, Hafsa gave Ali enough time to deploy his troops and prepare for the rebellion.

Joseph also knew that Eunice had only a limited supply of weapons and that his funds were running out quickly. Joseph had only sent 2,000 flintlock muskets to Eunice, and the so-called 2 million livres in military funding hadn't been provided at all. Eunice had managed to gather men with just his own savings, but he had no means to pay them or supply food.

In this desperate situation, Eunice had no choice but to make a bold move, trying to surprise the forces surrounding Kairouan Fortress and bypass the fortress to seize the wealthy city of Sousse, where he could resupply. Of course, if Eunice had decided not to do this, the French military advisors Joseph had placed in his camp would have suggested the ambush.

From the beginning, Joseph's strategy in Tunisia was to pit Eunice and Hamud Ali against each other, depleting the fighting power of the Tunisian guardsmen. The final move he had up his sleeve was the real goal.

Initially, Joseph had planned to send spies into the Kasbah Palace, posing as military experts to "advise" Ali. However, during the intelligence service's mission, they unexpectedly encountered a French merchant supplying high-end clothing to the Kasbah Palace, who introduced them to someone even more influential—Hajji, the son of the former Bey of Tunisia, Muhammad Ibn Hussein, and the nephew of Hamud Ali.

After making contact through the intelligence service, Joseph quickly secured Hajji's cooperation. Hajji then suggested that Hafsa, Ali's favorite concubine, would be better suited to influence Ali.

Hafsa then pretended to predict the rebellion in the south, and after Ali sent out troops, she "predicted" that the rebels would likely attack Koja. Joseph's intention was not for Ali to quickly suppress the rebellion but to ensure Eunice suffered a heavy blow, making it seem as though he was on the verge of collapse.

This would set the stage for the next part of the plan.

As for Eunice, Joseph wasn't worried that he would be defeated. As long as the warships off the coast of Sfax delivered the remaining weapons and some silver coins, Eunice could quickly recover and continue battling Ali's guardsmen.

On the slopes of Choukri Valley, the Tunisian guardsman Gedik quickly sent messengers to order the soldiers to prepare for battle.

Tunisia's terrain was mostly flat, with almost the entire country being plains. The so-called "valley" was only about 300-400 meters high, but it was an important pass leading into Kairouan.

Eunice's officer, Rum, appeared relaxed, urging his men to speed up. Earlier, they had easily overrun Koja's outpost, which made him feel quite smug. Today's guardsmen were nothing like the ones from twenty years ago. Back when he and Pasha Eunice had besieged the former Bey, Hussein, their men had been fierce and battle-hardened. But the guardsmen they had just encountered were fat, slow, and clearly too comfortable living in Tunis. This battle should be easy to win.

After passing through the valley and seeing the vast plain ahead, Rum immediately sent word to Pasha Eunice. Soon, Eunice personally led the main force through the valley. But just then, Nizamuddin, who had been sent to position cannons on the eastern high ground, suddenly engaged in heavy fighting with enemy forces.

Gedik was equally shocked. He had seen Eunice's vanguard pass through, preparing to ambush the main enemy force, when suddenly a small group of enemy artillerymen climbed the hill.

With no other option, he had to launch the attack early.

Eunice, a seasoned commander, quickly realized something was wrong and ordered the main force to retreat from the valley. At the same time, he instructed his daughter Rabia to search the hills on both sides of the valley.

Before they could complete these preparations, Gedik led nearly 6,000 guardsmen down from both sides of the valley. The two sides immediately clashed, but Eunice's troops, caught off guard, were thrown into disarray. The few hundred men who had entered the valley first were slaughtered within half an hour.

Meanwhile, on the other side of the valley, Rum's once-confident forces were surrounded by Koja's main guardsmen, who had arrived in force. With only 1,500 men and the narrow valley behind them, the battle lasted just over 40 minutes before Rum was hit by a stray bullet and killed, leading his men to surrender.

Koja quickly assessed the enemy's strength and realized this was not Eunice's main force. He immediately ordered his troops to pass through the valley and search for the main enemy army.

Eunice, his face pale, watched through binoculars as his troops scattered from the valley, running like mice being chased by a cat. Gritting his teeth, he ordered the rest of his men to retreat, personally leading his most trusted 3,000 soldiers to hold the exit of the valley.

Half of these men had once served as guardsmen under Eunice. Although they were older now, their combat experience was formidable. Moreover, they were armed with the high-quality muskets provided by the French!

Gedik, in hot pursuit of the fleeing enemy, suddenly saw a well-ordered enemy formation in the distance. Filled with high spirits, he almost reflexively ordered a frontal assault while sending his cavalry to chase down the retreating soldiers.

As the dull sound of horns echoed, his two musketry battalions formed ranks and advanced on Eunice's troops, while a half-sword battalion quickly moved in from the flanks.

However, when the two sides were still more than 100 paces apart, Eunice's men unleashed a volley of concentrated gunfire. Gedik was about to mock his opponent for being impatient—after all, muskets were ineffective at such a distance—when he was stunned to hear screams from his ranks. Some soldiers, seeing their comrades fall in pools of blood, began to cower.

For a moment, Gedik froze, then hurriedly ordered his men to return fire, but at this distance, their shots were indeed ineffective. After a chaotic volley from the poorly trained Tunisian guardsmen, Eunice's forces advanced a few steps, reloaded, and fired another volley.

The thunderous gunfire dropped another 30-40 men in Gedik's ranks. Despite officers shouting orders to hold the line, they couldn't stop some soldiers from retreating. In no time, Gedik's musketry units were in disarray, with some holding their ground and others retreating.

Through the smoke, Gedik saw his men in chaos and reluctantly ordered his sword battalion to charge while pulling back the musketry units to reorganize.

But Eunice wasn't going to give him that chance. He ordered his musketry units to press forward, while the fierce Rabia led hundreds of swordsmen to engage the enemy's sword battalion.

Melee combat was nothing like in the movies, where each side skillfully fought to the death, leaving the battlefield strewn with bodies. In reality, hand-to-hand combat often came down to momentum. Whichever side had weaker morale could be routed almost instantly. In less than a minute of contact, Gedik's sword battalion, terrified by the ferocity of the female pirate, turned and fled.

Once a large-scale army starts to rout, not even the gods can stop it. Rabia immediately led her forces in pursuit, while Eunice's musketry units, after several volleys, were practically on top of the enemy.

Gedik didn't even have time to deploy his reserve units before his main force was shattered by an enemy half its size, fleeing in all directions.

After routing the enemy, Eunice didn't dare linger. He ordered his men to cover the retreat of the scattered troops and quickly headed south of Sfax.

Hours later, when Koja's main force arrived on this side of the valley, they found only a disheveled Gedik and his dejected soldiers dragging away corpses, while Eunice's main force had long vanished.

Koja glanced at the sky and, unwilling to continue the pursuit, ordered his men to set up camp and prepare defenses, while sending word of the battle back to Tunis.

Meanwhile, Eunice continued to flee until dusk before finally halting. By the next morning, he had tallied his losses—nearly 2,000 dead or missing, including the total loss of Nizamuddin and Rum's units, with hundreds more wounded.

Now, he had fewer than 5,000 combat-ready troops left.

Inside the military tent, a few officers looked gloomily at Eunice. Someone had just suggested they continue south into the barren Gudamis region.

At that moment, the French advisor traveling with them unexpectedly smiled and said:

"Gentlemen, don't be discouraged. Trust me, His Highness the Prince's support should arrive very soon!"

(End of this chapter)

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